How the Mighty Have Fallen
by OrcinusTheOrca
Summary: Mighty is one of the strongest heroes, that much is known. But after being captured by Dr. Eggman, the hero experiences an event worse than death. A contest entry I made for the Sonic Amino. Hope you enjoy! Warning: Major character death


_Kill. Exterminate. _

Those were the only two words that ran through my mind. The only feeling I could genuinely feel from within this state. With each passing moment, another life was claimed by my own hands. It had only been less than an hour, and already I was covered with the blood of the innocent, the red fitting far too well with the red metal that was my skin. I had watched helplessly as the people who had once been my friends, my family, made desperate attempts to stop me, to bring my horrid acts to a rest. Some were begging me to stop, to listen, to find that human part of me they knew was there. But it wasn't. It was gone. It had left as soon as I had awoken in the base of Dr. Eggman. I was no longer the hero who once helped to defend this world. I was now nothing more than a weapon of destruction. A terrible monster, commanded by Doctor Eggman in an attempt to lay claim over this planet. Rage would have boiled from within had all emotion not been erased from my mind. In this state, I could only feel what Eggman wanted me to feel. I had at one point fought for my freedom, but the bonds of the programming appeared too strong. Struggling had only left me weaker than I had been before.

Now, in my small state of sanity, I had retained over the months, had become exhausted. I wanted so much to go to sleep, to become numb to all that was happening around. It was too much, too much murder, too much pain. I needed it to stop. I needed to stop.

Then, everything went still, when I saw that brief flash of yellow. I almost counted it as an illusion, I really wanted it to be so. But then those two words so softly were spoken. Words that made me feel something after months of being imprisoned within my own body. Words that made me feel dread.

C:C:

Heavy panting fell from the mouth of a small yellow squirrel as he dashed through the forested area. He ducked under branches, jumped over rocks, weaving past everything and only pushed himself to go faster. A loud bang came from the front of him, and he had to drag himself to a stop when he felt the earth below him shake. His bright blue eyes snapped up to look at the sky above, feeling himself grow sick from what he saw. The sky itself was almost entirely blanketed in smoke, the color of red cast along darkness from the evident fire that was spreading. The squirrel swallowed, horrid thoughts coming to mind as he watched the smoke swirl.

"No. No, no, no," he muttered under his breath, shaking his head as he watched. It was already happening, and he needed to get there. He needed to stop this, he was the only one who could! Without another moment's thought, he tore off once more.

Though some would call it short, it had already been five months of nothing but death. Ever since Eggman had captured the red armadillo, there had been great difficulty taking Mighty out. Not only due to the risk of damage to their comrade, but the robotization had done nothing to lessen the Mobian's high strength. People had tried to thwart him, but all had failed. Today had been marked the last chance when all hope would be lost, and their friend would be ordered to be put down. To them, it was the only way.

Ray just couldn't have that. After losing his own family at a young age, he couldn't let his friend, his brother, die for crimes he wasn't willingly committing. It just wasn't fair. Another leap and an uprooted tree later brought the unsuspecting flying squirrel crashing into the ground face first. He coughed, spitting out dirt as he rubbed his now cut and bleeding face, but returned to his feet. He grumbled under his breath, knowing he would have been there by now had the others trusted him. But to them, he was only a little kid. He just couldn't handle these things.

He ignored the new pain in his face, ignored all the screaming of pain and terror from ahead, and when his wrist communicator went off, he ignored that too. As far as he was concerned, either he stopped this, or he would die trying.

Finally, he exited the thickest of the forest only to enter the moderately sized village of Knothole. His blue eyes dilated as he gazed upon the destruction, eyes lingering too long on the spreading flames and bodies of the lost. People were running towards him, searching for an escape from within the forest. A few had even attempted to drag him with them, but he forced them away. He needed to find his friend.

As if on cue, a wagon went flying over his head and crashed into two people behind them, the two becoming buried under the mass of flaming wood. Ray jumped back, staring at the sight with wide eyes before turning towards the attacker. His blood ran cold as he met the bright red visors of the Meganized Mighty. The machine stood there, motionless, staring into Ray as if expecting something. Ray took this as his chance.

"Hey, Mighty," the squirrel began, voice shaking with slight fear as he began to approach the machine. Now that he was finally here, he was starting to see the foolishness in his decision. He was careful and light with his steps, knowing full well this thing his brother had been turned into could strike at any moment. He kept his hands above his head, hoping that it would somehow extinguish any hostility there may have been. So far, it seemed to be working.

"Remember me? It's your old pal Ray," another wary step and still no movement from the machine. Hope filled the young squirrel as he wondered if he had already done it. If maybe Mighty did recognize him and this was soon to be over. Tears began to well up in his blue eyes, too desperate for this to be true, as he took two more steps closer.

"I'm here to take you home," Ray continued, now reaching out a hand to take his old friend's. He reached out to grab the cold metal, hesitating briefly when he saw how coated in blood it was. Nonetheless, he curled his fingers around Mighty's and to his relief, nothing happened. The machine remained as lifeless as ever, eyes staring into Ray's with that blank stare. It was unnerving, but the squirrel merely chalked it up to the robotization process.

"You're still in there, aren't you?" Ray said, his voice quaking with emotion. Just like many, he had begun to wonder if maybe there was no hope for the revival of the armadillo. But what he saw now, to his desperate mind, only proved his theory that he was the one to save his friend. Carefully, he began to tug the metal machine forward, trying to get the other to follow. He smiled when he felt the robot seemingly fall into step behind him.

Mighty's new mechanical form was quite huge compared to what he once was. His hands especially were much more significant than they had been when he was flesh, odd knobs also placed on the knuckles. Everything else, however, was just the same as how the armadillo had been before this new look. Apart from the blue turned red eyes and the black ring around the upper right arm.

Pulling Mighty along was more work than he had thought but kind of fun also. It was like guiding a young child, Ray thought and would mutter words of encouragement. If he could show the others he had done it, they could delete all plans of terminating the hero. Everything could go back to the way it was meant to be–

Ray's train of thought immediately cut off as he felt Mighty come to an abrupt stop. Ray looked over his shoulder, tilting his head to the side in question. What was wrong now? Had he done something? Was his friend worried about going back? He turned back and wrapped his empty hand over Mighty's upper arm, giving the machine a comforting smile.

"It's okay," Ray began, trying to coax the metal armadillo to follow him. "Everyone will be so happy you're okay. You don't need to be scared."

His words didn't even matter. The literal iron grip of Mighty's other hand came to grab hold of Ray's. The yellow squirrel gasped when he felt the cold metal wrap around his arm, feeling fear grow when he couldn't pull himself free. He yanked and pulled and even at one point screamed, trying so desperately to pull free but it was of no use. His arm would not budge. He turned scared blue eyes to look into the bright red irises of his changed friend. Tears welled in his eyes as he tightened his grip on Mighty's metal arm, whispering words that only Mighty could hear if he were even still in there. All he could do was look away, the last thing he would ever see being the opposing metal arm being risen over the metal machine's head. With a muttered four last words, the boy let himself go.

C:C:

It was done. The deed was done, and I could feel so many emotions at once. It was horrible, exciting, frightening, and so much more at the same time. After so long without emotionally feeling anything, the sudden surge of emotions hurt so much more than they should have. I knew I was meant to mourn, but I felt pure agony as my somehow rational mind processed all that had happened.

I had seen him. The boy who had, over the years, become a little brother to me. He had followed me, looked up to me, had been the only friend I had for the past years of traveling. I had almost not believed it when I saw him, but his voice had confirmed that it had been him. His shining blue eyes, his soft smile, everything made me want to hold him and plead for his forgiveness. I had done so much wrong, caused so much pain, and here he was trying to save me. I didn't deserve him.

But the power my mind had quickly deteriorated as the programming installed took effect once more. It had taken me much longer than it should have to notice, but by the time I had, it had been too late. The coding had taken over, grabbed the boy's arm, and did as it was programmed to do. And my tired mind, my mind that had fought so hard for freedom, had the privilege of watching him die.

However, what haunted me most were the words spoken before his death. While previous words had been about how we could be together again, this time, it had been different. He had looked at me with those baby blue eyes of his before looking away. Before my hand was forced down, I heard it. I listened to those four words all too well, and as long as I would live, I would always regret hearing them.

"It's not your fault."

Now, I stood still, looking down at the still body of my friend. No blood had been spilled, but it had become an addition to the crimson stains I bore. I knew full well what I had done, the sanity of my mind screaming out in agony as I stood above the form of my brother, his life taken by my own strength. The power I had been so proud of, what he had admired so much, was now nothing but an added curse to my deformed state. The one thing I had feared most had finally come true, and I couldn't do anything to stop it. I had tried so hard to fight back, to keep the new coding implemented into my brain at bay. But it had won, and now he was dead. Ray the Squirrel, my little brother, was dead.

The sound of a siren was what brought me back to the real world, and the blink of a small red light in the corner of my vision alerted me to my new command. Another group of Freedom Fighters was on their way to stop me, this one containing the great Sonic the Hedgehog. My brain wanted to ignore it, still having not processed what had happened, but the coding disagreed. I expected it, after fighting it for weeks, there had been no signs of freedom. Eggman had perfected the roboticizer. A perfection I believed was worthy of being deemed irreversible. With a mental sigh, I gave in, letting my body continue once more. My mind was too tired and traumatized to even fight back at this point. I could only hope that maybe, just maybe, this would be the day they'd finally win. That they'd finally end my suffering.


End file.
